He has my eyes
by Scruffypalace
Summary: A pregnant Vicki left town 10 months ago and Jeremy has long since moved on. He is dating Bonnie and his eyes are open to the supernatural world. But Vicki comes back for a visit, and leaves Jeremy with a tiny surprise. A surprise that has his eyes. Now Jeremy has to decide if he wants to become a 16 year old father, or go through the pain of adoption to give his son a better life.
1. Chapter 1

"Bye Damon," Elena yelled, as she stood in the doorway, watching Damon drive away. She closed the door and turned around, gaging as she saw her brother and best friend making out on her couch.

"Ew guys, can y'all take that somewhere else," She asked them. They pulled apart and smiled at each other, and then Jeremy said, "Sure, come on Bonnie, let's take this to my room".

They were about to get up when Elena said, "Fine never mind, stay down here," and decided to go upstairs instead. Jeremy laughed and proceed to make out with Bonnie until a few moments later someone knocked on the door, making Jeremy pull back again and yell, "ELANA, COULD YOU GET THAT?"

Elena didn't respond, so Jeremy groaned and got up off the couch.

"Hurry back," Bonnie said grinning.

Jeremy turned back to her and smiled before opening the door. The smile immediately fell from his face as he saw someone he never thought he would see again.

"Vicki?" Jeremy asked, not believing his own eyes as he saw his ex-girlfriend he hadn't seen in a year, well more like ten months, standing right in front of him with a nervous expression on her face.

"Hi Jeremy," She said weakly as she looked up at his confused stare.

"Vicki?" Bonnie asked as she stood up from the couch.

"Oh, I didn't realize you had company," she said sounding disappointed, "I'll come back later then".

She turned around, about to walk away, when Jeremy grabbed her arm and said, "No, just give me a second".

He closed the door and turned to Bonnie saying, "I know this is weird, but-" "It's okay, go see what she wants."

He smiled graciously, and opened the door again, but she was nowhere in sight. Jeremy looked around and yelled, "VICKI?" but she didn't respond.

He shrugged his shoulders and walked back in the house, closing the door behind him.

"That was weird," he said sitting back on the sofa and looking at Bonnie.

"Why would she just show up, have you talked to her since she left town?" Bonnie asked him.

"No, not even Matt has heard a peep from her, I have no idea where she has been this entire time, or why she is back," Jeremy said honestly.

Bonnie sat on his lap and said, "Well, I guess we won't know until she comes back".

"If she comes back, I wouldn't doubt that we probably won't see her again".

"Well in that case," Bonnie said seductively as she slid her hands around his face to the back of his head and kissed him.

 _FOUR HOURS LATER…_

Jeremy walked down the stairs to the kitchen with a mission, to get the last thing of the chocolate ice-cream before Elena. He slowly and quietly made his way to the freezer, but just as he opened the door he heard a loud, "NO," before Elena ran down the stairs in her pajamas and pointed her finger at him.

"You finished the ice cream the last two times, it's my turn," She said as she lunged at him and tried to take the carton away.

"No way, I got to it first. Anyway you-" he was cut off by someone ringing the doorbell.

"What the heck," Elena said as she looked at the time, "It's almost midnight, who would be here?"

Jeremy shrugged and made his way to the door, ice cream in hand.

"HEY, do not think this discussion is over. You are going to give me some or you will pay," Elena said as Jeremy ate a spoonful.

"Mmm, delicious," he said to her, before he opened the door.

"What?" he said confused as he looked around, but saw no one.

"Who is it?" Elena asked him.

"No one, must be a kid or something," he said before he heard a gurgle sound come from below him.

He looked down at the sound to see what made it, when he saw a tiny baby in a car seat wearing a blue and red long sleeve button up and holding onto a miniature teddy bear.

"Uh, Elena, you're going to want to see this," Jeremy called to her with a dry throat as he saw eyes that matched his own stare up at him.


	2. Chapter 2

"What is it?" Elena asked as she walked towards the door. Jeremy didn't respond, he only stared at the little baby that was happily waving its arms and smiling up at him. When Elena reached the door, she stopped in her tracks and joined him in staring in shock down at the baby.

"What the heck?" she asked as leaned down and took a closer look. The baby though, did not like this stranger getting so close, so it let out a loud cry. "No no no no no, shh shh shh," Elena said as she put her hand on the baby's stomach and tried to tickle it, but that just made the baby cry louder, arms now waving around in angst. She finally gave in and lifted the baby out of its carrier, bouncing it on her shoulder as she walked down the hallway, and humming Mary Had a Little Lamb. Jeremy picked up the carrier and the bag that was next to it, and followed her to the kitchen. After about 15 minutes of humming and bouncing, the baby calmed down and was almost asleep. When it's eyes finally slipped closed, Elena sat it back into its car seat, sat down, and let out a sigh. Jeremy sat down next to her and watched as the baby slept, trying to sort out all the thoughts going through his head.

Elena, on the other hand, had a clear mind and she had only one objective. "Did it have a note?" She asked as she started to rummage through the bag.

"I-I didn't see one," Jeremy responded nervously.

"Ah ha," Elena said as she lifted a piece of paper out of the left side pocket. She unfolded it and started to read it aloud.

"Okay, it says Dear," she stops though, when she reads who the letter is addressed to, and freezes. She then drops the letter and stares at it laying on the ground.

"What? Who is it addressed to?" Jeremy asked her. When she didn't respond, he leaned over and picked up the letter, reading it himself.

'Dear Jeremy,' he gulped as he felt his throat tighten in fear, 'I wanted to tell you this today in person, but you had your girlfriend over and I didn't want to get in the middle of that. 10 months ago, I left town because I found out I was 3 weeks pregnant, with your baby. I did a paternity test with some of your hair that I had taken right before I left town. If you don't believe me, I left the test at the bottom of the bag. I never planned to tell you. The entire time I was pregnant I planned to run away and be a single mom, but that is not as easy as it sounds, and it even sounds difficult. Anyway, about a month after he was born I realized that I couldn't do it anymore, I don't wanna do it anymore. So, I am giving up my rights to him. I left you with some supplies, like his favorite blanket and stuffed bear. He likes to be sung to and he will take a bottle when he is laying against your chest, with his head laying in your shoulder. His name is Mason Matt Gilbert, and he is 5, almost 6, weeks old. Don't get mad at Matty, he didn't have any idea. I know you will do what is best for him, no matter if it's giving him up or taking care of him. All I want is for you to make sure that he has the best life possible. And to make sure that he knows that I love him. I'm sorry about this. – love Vicky. Jeremy threw the letter down on the ground and hit his fist against the counter.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDING ME," he screamed, making Elena quickly shush him, surprised he didn't wake up the baby.

"Jeremy, you've got to be quite you might wake him up," Elena whispered gently.

Jeremy didn't hear her though, as he was to busy pacing and mumbling to himself, "This can't be happening. No, this can't be happening, I can't be a dad".

The moment those slipped past his lips Elena gasped and sat back down, unable to stand due to the shock. She had already put two and two together, but hearing those words come out of her sixteen-year-old brother's mouth made them all the more real. She looked back at the baby as it lay there peacefully, completely unaware of the craziness it was stirring up in the people around it.

Jeremy started to hyperventilate, so Elena walked up to him and placed her hand on his arm to get him to stop pacing. He looked to her with tear filled eyes and her heart broke. She knew that no matter what, he brother's life was changed forever. Jeremy loves so deeply that even if he gives the kid up for adoption, he will still severely pained by having to let him go. She engulfed him into a big hug, which he leaned into, and let him cry on her shoulder. After about 15 or so minutes a shaken Jeremy pulled back and leaned against the wall, sliding down it. Elena sat on the floor next to him, her hand gently stroking his shoulder as he put his chin into his hands.

"Elena," he said weakly, "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know Jer," Elena responded honestly, "It's up to you".

"Yeah well I don't really know what to do either. I never thought that I would become a father at sixteen".

"What?" they heard behind them as they noticed a shocked Jenna standing right behind them.

 _ **Reviews are loved!**_


	3. Chapter 3

"Jenna!" Jeremy said nervously as he stood up, quickly facing her.

"Please tell me I'm going insane and what I just heard was not heard correctly," she requested hopefully.

"Uh…," Jeremy said as he tried to come up with something…anything, to say.

Sadly, he couldn't think of anything, so Elena decided to speak for him.

"Well, what Jeremy is trying to say... I mean what he said was," she rambled until a whine was heard behind the pair. Jenna raised her eyebrow, and slowly made her way past them towards the baby sitting on the counter.

"Want to explain this?" she asked, turning to look at Jeremy.

"I didn't know, I swear," were the only words that Jeremy could make out.

Jenna gave him a pointed look and asked, "Didn't know WHAT Jeremy?"

Jeremy was so scared that he couldn't talk, let alone move, so Elena tried to take over again, this time actually making sense.

"Someone left him on the front porch. All he had was his carrier, bag, and a note," Elena answered.

"Well, what did the note say?" Jenna asked, feeling like she might already know by the look on Jeremy's face.

Elena walked over to the note that was laying on the floor, picked it up, and handed it to Jenna, who read it, read it again, and then read it one more time before looking up at Jeremy. Jeremy was still too scared to make a peep, knowing that any second Jenna would yell at him.

Or so he thought. Instead, she just stood there looking extremely disappointed. She looked down and closed her eyes while pinching the top of her nose, like she did when she had a headache, and said, "Damn it Jeremy".

She looked up and walked over to him, grabbing his shoulders and saying loudly, "I trusted you, I trusted you to make smart decisions, use birth control, I trusted you and you know what you did? You acted like a child, you made a decision that makes me realize how much of a child you really are."

He was finally able to somewhat speak, so he said, "I know okay, do you think I asked for this? I don't want to be a teen dad. I don't want to give up my life right now to take care of someone else's. I don't want to give up my dream of going to college or having an actual freaking life. Not to mention that we're all constantly in danger."

"There's always adoption…," Elena said quietly.

"That's not an option," he responded immediately.

"Jeremy, come on, think of this logically, you are sixteen, and like you said you have not only college, but two years of high school, and I don't have any time to watch him I have school, too. You should at least consider it," Jenna said, trying to get him to think reasonably.

"I'll send him to daycare while I'm at school, and I'll get a job," he said.

"How will you pay for daycare?" Jenna asked, really trying not to sound pushy.

"I have some money that mom and dad left me," Jeremy said sounding like he suddenly had all the answers.

"That money was meant for college," said Jenna.

"Well, I guess it's not in the cards for me anymore. Listen, I don't know what I'm doing, but I know that I can't just give him up, he's my…," he took a deep breath, "he's my son, and though I'm young, I can and am going to take care of him, with or without your help," Jeremy said, ending the conversation. He then made his way over to the baby and lifted the carrier and diaper bag off the counter saying, "Come on Mason, let's go upstairs so you can sleep".

He walked past them, faking confidence as he did, and then made his way up the stairs to his room. When he got there, he sat Mason down on the floor right next to his bed, then he sat on his bed and fell backwards. He rubbed his face with his hands as he groaned. He realized he probably should have stayed down there and discussed it with them, but he couldn't handle the thought of giving away his son…his son he just found out about. He got back up and crouched down in front of Mason to see him looking curiously around the room.

"You want a tour?" Jeremy asked. He then put his hands underneath the infant's head and butt and slowly lifted him until he was resting against his chest. He then walked him around the room, pointing at things and telling him about them.

"This is my bed, and this is my is my desk, and these are my drawings," he said, turning Mason slightly so he could see them. "Yeah, Daddy loves art. When you're bigger I'll teach you how to draw." It was weird to think of taking care of this person for the rest of his life. Well, maybe not the rest of his life, but for the next eighteen years at least. When he was done showing Mason around he put him down on the bed and got a good look at him. He was smaller than he looked when he was in the carrier, and that scared Jeremy even more. The thought of breaking him already crossed his mind a million times and he would probably think about it a million more.

"Listen, Mason," Jeremy started, "you need to know that I have no idea what I am doing. I don't know how to take care of infants, I don't know how to feed or change you and I definitely don't know anything about how you will develop and what I should do to help. But, I do want you to know that though I just found out about you, I love you so much, okay? And maybe all I can give you is love right now, but that's better than nothing. And even if it is just you and me, I promise that from now on, I will be the mature giving parent that you deserve." Jeremy wiped the tears that were falling fast down his face, then he picked the infant up again, and moved him up till he was sitting on one of Jeremy's flat pillows. Mason had fallen back to sleep, and Jeremy just laid down next to him, his arm propped up by a pillow and was holding his head as he watched the infant's chest slowly rise and fall.

He surrounded him with pillows so he wouldn't fall off of the bed, and then he watched him until he fell asleep. A few hours later he jolted awake to the sound of Mason crying. "No, no, shh, shh, shh," he said as he lifted the boy off the bed and started pacing back and forth across his floor. Mason wouldn't stop crying, so Jeremy set him down to check if he need a diaper change. He didn't, so he freaked out, until he realized he was probably hungry. He rummaged through the diaper bag until he found a bottle and some formula. He went into his bathroom and filled the bottle with water. Then he put a scoop of the powder in and shook it till it was mixed together well. He picked up the baby and put him against his chest like the letter said to, but whenever he tried to put the bottle in Mason's mouth, he would scrunch up his face and turn his head away.

"Come on Mason, just try a little bit. I bet it's really good," he said, and then he tried to show Mason by putting it in his mouth and trying it. That ended with him covering his sheets in spit, making the baby cry harder as he became wet.

"Great, now you're wet too," Jeremy moaned as he put the baby back in the pillow fort and looked through his bag for a onesie. "Wow, she couldn't leave you with an extra onesie?" Jeremy asked Mason as he took off his own shirt before undressing the boy and putting him in it. "Is that a little better?" Jeremy asked as he paced back and forth again around his room.

After a little more pacing, Jeremy attempted again to feed the infant. This time the baby took a few sips before he turned his head away. Jeremy accepted this as progress and tried time and time again for him to take more sips. He gave up before picking up the baby and bouncing him up and down again. Sadly, Jeremy was really unexperienced with babies, so he had no idea you were supposed to burp them after they were fed, so as he bounced him a few times the baby spit up all over Jeremy's shoulder. Jeremy closed his eyes as he felt the spit up slowly drip down his back and into his pants.

"Thanks, Mason," Jeremy said sarcastically. For the next half hour Jeremy repeated the trying to feed - giving up - and then pacing around the room technique until he felt like he was going insane.

"Okay, Mason, I think I was wrong. There is no way in heck that this is going to work," Jeremy cried as he sat on his bed with Mason crying on his chest. "I'm an idiot, I realize that now, you would be much better off in a home of adults who know what the heck they're doing."

Just then, Jenna and Elena both walked in the room, tired but ready to take action. They took in the sight before Jenna lifted Mason off of Jeremy and looked down at the large t-shirt the infant was wearing. Luckily for Jeremy, she didn't say anything about it, all she did was ask, "Have you checked if he was wet?"

Jeremy gave her a look before saying sarcastically, "No, I just sat there for an hour thinking, 'How do I turn this thing on and off?'"

Jenna and Elena both looked at each other. "Okay, since I know you've been through a rough night I'm going to let that one go. Now," she said, taking her hand and leading him to the bathroom, "go and wash off that crap running down your back while Elena and I take over for a few minutes, okay?" Jeremy wanted to protest saying that he could take care of it, but he didn't have the energy, so he just walked straight into the shower, got undressed, and almost fell asleep as the warm water poured down his tired body. When he dried off and got himself dressed in the clothing Jenna laid outside the door for him, he walked back into his room.

When he got there, he saw Elena placing a new comforter on his bed and Jenna holding Mason as she fed him a bottle he was drinking from happily. He was also wearing a different onesie, one that looked a little familiar.

"How did you get him to drink that?" he asked surprised.

"You have to heat it up, isn't that right, Mason? Don't you like your milk all nice and warm so it feels good in your tummy?" Jenna asked in a voice that was so high pitched that if Jeremy were in a different situation he would laugh at her.

"Where did you find the onesie?" he asked as he sat in front of Jenna, watching his son look content for the first time.

"Your parents kept most of yours and Elena's onesies in the attic, and luckily for this little one, I brought some down and washed them because I was going to use a couple for an art project." When Mason finished his bottle, Jenna handed him over to Jeremy, who was quite hesitant.

"No, he's going to spit up on me again and then I'll have to take another shower," Jeremy said, but Jenna still held him out towards him.

"Not if you do what I say," Jenna said, so Jeremy slowly took him. "Okay, now gently place him on your shoulder." Jeremy did as he was told, and waited as Jenna placed a washcloth on his shoulder.

"Now, gently pat his back until he lets out a nice burp," she instructed.

Jeremy patted him on the back as lightly as possible, making Jenna laugh. "I know he looks like he's going to break into a million pieces at the slightest touch, but I promise you he can take more than that." Jeremy patted him a little harder for a few minutes until Mason let out a nice, "Uhh." Then, then infant snuggled right into Jeremy's shoulder. Elena and Jenna looked at each other while Jeremy placed the infant back into his pillow crib, and when he was finished, they crowded around him; Jenna on the edge of the bed and Elena on a pillow on the ground.

Jeremy sat next to Jenna and rubbed his hands down his face. "I get it now, okay, I won't keep him. I am not ready to be a father and I don't know how I would even start. So, tomorrow I'll give him up," Jeremy said sadly as he felt tears well up in his eyes for what felt like the millionth time that night.

Jenna and Elena both looked at each other and sighed. "Listen Jer," Elena started, "I don't think any of us were thinking clearly when we were talking downstairs. We talked after you left the room and decided that it was best to probably support you in whatever your decision may be. And your decision was to keep him. So, you had a rough night. Will there be more? Yes. Does that mean that there won't be great days and nights too? No. I know how much you love him just by the way you look at him, and I don't want you to have to give up your life, but I do want you to think long and hard about this decision. I mean do you really want to miss his first steps? First words? First day of preschool? I just don't think this is a decision you should make lightly. I think you should take some time and think about what all of this really means and what the best next step would be. And know that we will help you either way."

Jeremy smiled as he listened to his sister's kind words, then he turned to Jenna and said, "I don't know what I should do yet, but I do know that until I make this decision, I will need a lot of help, seeing as I didn't know you needed to heat bottles."

Jenna smiled, "Well, don't you worry because we are here to help you every step of the way."

 _ **The more reviews the faster I update!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey guys, so I realized that Tyler's uncle was named Mason, which is something I totally forgot when I named the baby, so do you think that I should change it, or should I just keep it and see how Tyler reacts to that? THANKS FOR READING, REVEIWS ARE LOVED!- Scruffy Palace.**_

Three.

That was the number of times that Mason cried through the night before Jeremy gave up on sleep.

Two.

That was the number of times Jeremy almost threw up due to the smell of one of Mason's unfortunatediapers.

One.

That was the number of hours total that Jeremy slept after Elena and Jenna came into his room and helped him out.

So, to say Jeremy wanted to toss himself off a roof was a safe assumption. He was so sleep deprived that he almost filled the baby's bottle with Coke instead of water. Luckily, Jenna swooped in just in time, lead him over to a barstool, and sat him down. He gently massaged his temples as he tried to relieve himself of the mind-numbing headache he'd been dealing with for hours.

Jenna tapped him on the shoulder and handed him the bottle, then she started making her own breakfast. The screaming infant denied the bottle a few times by waving around his arms and head, but eventually gave in and started to drink the formula happily. Jeremy was surprised at first that he didn't need to sit him up like Vicki said, but to say Vicki was probably all there and was an award-winning mom was the opposite of a safe assumption. Actually, it was more like a joke. I mean come on, she did leave her infant on the front porch of a sixteen-year-old's house.

After Mason was done eating, he burped him, because once you get spit up on, you tend to want to prevent it. He then rocked him up and down the hall, like Elena had the previous night, and continued until he fell asleep nuzzled against his chest, his tiny hand gently grasping onto the neck of Jeremy's shirt.

"Now this is a weird sight to see," Elena said as she made her way towards Jeremy. She brushed her hand through the short, chestnut brown hair on the infant's head, and shook her own in disbelief. Last night she wasn't completely sure that Vicki was telling the truth when she said it was his, even though she said she had a paternity test done and she did not seem like the kind of person that would be able to create a fake one. Anyway, Elena was now able to see the baby in a new light, and what she saw was a miniature Jeremy Gilbert. Her little brother had a son, and not only was he now a teenage father, he was a single teenage father, who could also talk to ghosts, and was constantly hunted by supernatural creatures.

"So," Jenna said quietly as Jeremy and Elena both walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, "I called your school and told them that you were both sick with the flu and would be out for the rest of the week. We are going to spend today buying some essential stuff because even if this is only temporary," Jeremy looked away at that, "we need a few items. I made a list; we will go by Babies R Us after breakfast. Then, when we get back, we are going to have a long talk. Now, change him before we leave, because I do not want a dirty diaper stinking up my car."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and picked the sleeping infant back up, waking him in the process. That was an unwise decision, because as soon as his eyes opened he let out a loud, shrill cry. Jeremy groaned as he set a blanket on the floor, and placed the baby on top of it. He pinched his nose with his left hand as he detached the sides with his right. Sure enough, that diaper was filled to the brim, making Jeremy turn away gagging. He changed the diaper as fast as humanly possible, which was quite surprising seeing as he just recently learned how to change one, and then, after putting Mason back in his carrier, ran outside and threw the diaper in the trashcan all the way at the end of the driveway. When he came back in, he washed his hands better than a doctor getting ready for surgery, only then was he finally able to breathe again.

"Alright, we better get a move on. I just checked and that was our last diaper," Elena said as she held up the empty diaper bag.

"Let's go then," Jenna said as she made her way towards the door.

Jeremy picked up the carrier, looking down at Mason one more time as he did, then made his way to the car. When he got there, he sat the carrier down facing forwards, and then sat beside him. Jenna and Elena looked at the car seat, then each other, then rolled their eyes in unison.

"What?" asked Jeremy.

"Well, babies are supposed to sit rear facing," Elena said as she turned the carrier around, "and they're supposed to be strapped in."

"Oh," was all Jeremy had to say as he immediately felt stupid. How the heck was he supposed to take care of this baby if he didn't even know it was supposed to be strapped in. Jeremy first put the buckles in the car seat around the baby, while being extremely cautious with his tiny arms. Then he grabbed the seat belt, and pulled it across the carrier. Elena gave him a sad smile as she realized how hopeless her brother was, then she unbuckled and re-buckled the child correctly, pulling the seatbelt underneath the carrier through the slits. Jeremy gave her a sheepish smile as he strapped himself in as close as he could to his son. Jenna drove away slowly, as she was not used to having a baby in her car, and turned the fifteen-minute trip into a half hour. After a few minutes in the silent car, Elena looked back at her brother, to see him gently rubbing his thumb against his son's chubby cheek as the baby sat content in his carrier. The way Jeremy looked at Mason broke Elena's heart. He looked like he wanted to give this kid everything, but sadly the reality of being a teenage father was settling down on him like a stone in his heart. Elena wished she could tell him it was all going to be alright, but she was only a year older than him. She wasn't an adult, though she did deal with adult problems all the time, but sadly none of those could help her with guiding her brother. Elena was so into her thoughts that she didn't notice they pulled into the parking lot of the store until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Elena?" Jenna asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, we're here. Let's go," she said quickly as she jumped out of the car.

"Not so fast, we kind of need to bring the baby with us," Jeremy said as he continued to struggle with pulling the seatbelt back out of the slits. Mason did not like being shaken, so he protested it in the only way he could.

"WAHHH," he cried out as he scrunched up his face that was getting redder by the second.

"No, no buddy. It's okay, I got it," Jeremy said as he finally pulled the carrier free. The crying died down a little, but he was still clearly upset. Jeremy had no idea what he could do to relieve the poor baby's distress, until he came up with an idea.

He looked at Jenna and Elena, who were standing by the front of the car, and then, when he was sure no one could hear him, started to sing.

" _The wheels on the bus go round and round,_

 _Round and round,_

 _Round and round,_

 _The wheels on the bus go round and round,_

 _All through the town"_

Mason's crying turned into sounds of happy gurgling as he smiled and wiggled around in his seat.

"You like that? Okay, well you're the only one who gets to hear me sing, so you gotta know that makes you pretty special." Jeremy said, as he looked into his son's eyes, his beautiful brunette eyes, that were still shining from all the tears. He lifted the carrier up and got out of the car to see that Jenna had gotten a shopping cart, and Elena was looking at him with a slight smile on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh nothing," she replied, but then as they were walking into the door she started humming the wheels on the bus.

When they were inside, Jenna pulled her list out of her pocket, and started to read off of it. "Okay we need diapers, bottles - seeing as we only have one, formula, unless you want to start producing some milk Jeremy, uh a stroller, butt paste, a changing mat, a few toys, a crib, a burp cloth, a carrier, a mattress, blankets, a wearable blanket, a pacifier, and a baby monitor."

Jeremy's eyes widened as he listened to her recite the list. The words that used to mean nothing to him were about to wipe out his life savings in an hour.

He tried to narrow down the list by saying, "Well, we have a carrier, I don't think we need two kinds of blankets, and what the heck is butt paste?"

Jenna let out a laugh, "Oh Jeremy, a carrier as in one that straps him to your chest, a wearable blanket is good for preventing SIDS, but it's not exactly a blanket, it's more like an outfit, so he'll need a real blanket, and butt paste is to help diaper rashes; it's like baby powder but it's proven to be better."

"Oh, okay…," he said.

"Now, we should split up," she said while tearing the list into thirds and handing one to Jeremy and one to Elena, "and when we're done we will meet up back here, and get this paid for. I hope I have enough on my card." She said the last bit under her breath like she didn't want anyone to hear her, but Jeremy did, and it made his heart clench. He was so caught up in the whole having to raise a baby at sixteen thing, that he didn't even think about Jenna. She was a young woman who was living her fun, carefree life like any other person in their twenties, and then over night she had two teenagers dumped on her. Then finally, when she had gotten her life back on track, she found out that the two teenagers she was supposed to protect, were putting their lives on the line repeatedly. Then, when she finally got that handled and was able to start her life again, this happened. Jeremy knew that he would need her a lot if he decided to keep the baby, so that was definitely a crucial factor when it came to his decision.

Jeremy put Mason's car seat onto the shopping cart, and pushed it down the many aisles. His part of the list consisted of probably the most items as he had practically half of the paper. He figured the easiest would be a crib, so he went to the section where they sat, and just stared in utter confusion. They were all different, yet they claimed that they were the best in some way or another. Some said they were the safest, some claimed they had the best durability and strength, though really, how much strength does a crib need to hold a fifteen-pound baby?

There were some that said five-in-one, whatever that means, and they there were ones that came with a bunch of accessories like a bumper and a thing that shines lights on the ceiling and plays soft music. And the price range was crazy too. Some were 100 dollars, and some were as high as 600. He picked up one that was on the cheaper side, still 200 dollars, that still seemed like it was one of the best with safety and included the mattress. He then went onto getting a blanket and a wearable blanket. These were a lot easier to buy as they were pretty much the same. He got a yellow wearable blanket and a blue and white striped regular one. He also picked up a cheap hat and socks combo, because it was cold outside and Mason didn't have on either, which was getting him bad looks from the other moms, especially the grandmas. Though, that might have had to do with his age too.

When he got to the formula section, he almost wanted to call it quits there. He looked at all of the shelves that had various kinds of formulas, and there were a lot. There were different forms, and features, and brands, that it made Jeremy's mind explode. He let out a soft, "Holy crap," cause the woman next to him to look at him curiously.

When she saw how distressed he was, she smiled sympathetically and asked, "Are you having a little difficulty?" Jeremy nodded. "Well, I can help. I'm on my third so I've been around the block a time or two. You are always so cautious with the first one. This aisle used to scare the living daylights out of me. I mean, what if my baby doesn't eat it and starves? What if it causes an allergic reaction? What if he choked? But I realized that most of them are pretty similar when you notice the ingredients and your kid will most likely be fine. Now, I hate to pry, but has the mother breast fed? Because that could cause stomach problems for the child and he might need to be put on a special formula."

Jeremy looked worried at that, then he shook his head while saying, "I don't know, she wasn't really open about what she used. I do think she did formula at least some of the time."

"Okay, well it might not be a problem, so you don't have to get anything special unless he has tummy troubles. Alright, here is my favorite," she said while taking one off the shelf, "This is Enfamil Enspire Infant Formula. It has iron, it's a milk based powder, and it helps support their weak immune systems." Jeremy took the formula from her, read the price, and placed it his cart.

"Thanks," he said as he strolled away. He only had two items left on his list, so he went out to find diapers and a baby monitor. He got a few packs of Pampers diapers as they are always shown on TV, and then he looked through the monitors till he found ones that had a small camera on it that you were supposed to put on the side of their cribs. He then started walking back to the door of the store, when he noticed something hanging on one of the shelves. It was a small bear onesie that had a hood and everything and on the stomach, it read, 'My daddy is the beary best'. Jeremy pushed the cart towards it and picked it up, rubbing his thumb across the word daddy. He looked at his son and held it up to him, seeing that it was a perfect fit. Jeremy realized that he shouldn't be getting that if he didn't know if he was keeping him or not, so he put it back, and rubbed his eyes.

What? Dust must have gotten in them or something.

He turned his cart right in time to bump straight into a person. Not just any person though.

 _Oh crap…_


	5. Chapter 5

_**HEY GUYS BEFORE YOU READ! IMPORTANT QUICK NOTE: I CHANGED THE BABY'S NAME, YOU WILL SEE THE NEW NAME IN THIS CHAPTER. I DID SO, BECAUSE SOMEONE POINTED OUT TO ME THAT TYLER'S UNCLE WAS NAMED MASON, AND THAT WOULD HAVE MADE IT WEIRD AND SAD FOR TYLER. ENJOY! REVIEWS ARE LOVED, BTW!**_

"Matt?" Jeremy asked confused. Why the heck was Matt in a Babies R Us? Though, come to think of it, Matt was probably thinking the same about him.

"Jeremy, what are you doing here? Is that a baby?" He asked while staring at the infant in the car seat attached to Jeremy's cart.

"Uh, I… I yeah I'm, I'm babysitting," Jeremy responded, his voice shaky as he tried and failed to lie.

"Then why are you at a Babies R Us?"

"Uhhhh... I needed formula," he said while lifting up one of the boxes of formula. "The family I was babysitting for ran out."

"Uh huh, then what's with all the other stuff? And why would you have had to drive all the way to Babies R Us, when you could have stopped by a Walmart for that?"

"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked, trying to take some of the heat off himself.

"An old friend of mine had a baby, and I was getting her a present," he said while lifting the stuffed penguin.

"You could have gotten that at a Walmart," said Jeremy, desperately trying to divert Matt's eyes from the infant.

"Why are you acting so nervous, Jer?" he asked. Jeremy's mind blanked, so Matt looked at him suspiciously as he walked over to the cart and looked into the carrier. When he saw the innocent looking face the child sported, his eyes shot up at Jeremy's, then back at the baby's, as he did a double take. Matt backed away as his mind tried to process the similarities between the infant and the young man in front of him.

"Is that… is he Elena's? I mean, it couldn't be, I would have noticed. Though she has seemed quite different these past few months. She's kind of quiet and reserved. She's also been spending a lot of time with that Damon guy." Matt's eyes widened. "Did he get her pregnant? Because if he did I swear I am going to rip those eyes out of his pretty face and make him eat them. Gosh I will-"

"Stop, no my sister didn't have a baby, and don't tell her you thought she was pregnant, because she might take your eyes out and make you eat them," Jeremy said while some of the nerve brushed off.

"Then whose is…" he started to ask, but when he saw the look on the younger man's face he said, "Oh Jer, he's yours isn't he?" Jeremy nodded. "Who's the mom? I know it's not Bonnie, but who else have you been with?"

Jeremy looked away in fear of Matt finding out the truth just by looking at his expression, but by doing that he seemed to give Matt his answer quicker.

"No. You're not saying that-that my sister left because… because she was pregnant, are you?" he asked, but deep in his heart he already knew the answer. Of course, that baby was the spit and image of Jeremy, but Matt could see something in that boy that reminded him of his sister.

All Jeremy could do was nod weakly. Matt looked hurt and betrayed as his eyes filled with tears and his heart panged so badly he wanted to rip it out of his chest.

"How could she, how could she not tell me? I would have helped her. I would have been upset, sure. I mean neither of you are ready to take care of a baby, but I would have helped her. I can never rap my head around the decisions she makes."

"I really don't think she was in the right mind, she still isn't. She didn't tell me either, she just left him on my porch last night and I," Oh crap, he thought as tears started to well up in his eyes as well, "I have no idea what I'm doing or how this is going to go. Everyone is so disappointed and he is so tiny and delicate, I could do one little thing wrong and ruin his life forever. Matt, I didn't know you could be this worried about something that may or may not happen. But, I also didn't know that you could love something as much as I already love him either. It's so hard, because I thought I would have years to figure out my life, I mean I'm only 16, but last night I found out that I would have to change all of my future plans to not only accommodate an infant, but to also take care of it."

Matt immediately engulfed Jeremy into a manly hug as they both stood there and cried. When Matt pulled back he said, "Now Jer, I can't tell you what to do, I don't have an answer for you, but what I can tell you is that if you do decide to keep him, then he is going to have the best uncle in the world, okay?"

Jeremy smiled and even let out a little laugh at that. "Hey Matt, do you want to hold your nephew?" Matt smiled back and nodded enthusiastically. Jeremy slowly lifted the baby from the carrier, and then placed him into Matt's arms.

"Hey there little fella. What's your name?" he asked, his voice sounding much happier than it had.

"His name is Grayson Mathew Gilbert," answered Jeremy.

Matt looked back up at him and asked, "Mathew?"

"Yeah, she does love you Matt, she is just having a tough time."

"Do you think she realized she gave your kid the same name as your dad?" Matt asked.

"I have no idea," Jeremy said while letting out a light-hearted laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guy's, before you read this chapter, I just want to point out that we have no idea what kind of Block Schedule Mystic Falls High uses, so in this story they use the traditional block scheduling which means they have four classes one semester than four the next, meaning they have two in the morning and two after lunch. Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that so that there wasn't any confusion. I hope you enjoy! Love your reviews BTW and I appreciate all of them!**

"Ooookay, so this part of the leg A attaches to this part of the leg B and… no, no this part of leg b attaches to leg B, or this part of leg C?" Jeremy asked himself confused. It wasn't his fault that the instructions were all pictures and no words, all of the freaking legs looked the same. How the heck was he supposed to figure out which was leg A and which was B? Jeremy sighed as he dropped both of the pieces and looked over at Grayson. Right now, he was laying on the blue blanket with firetrucks on it that Jeremy bought him at Babies R Us. His arms and legs were waving all over the place, and his face had a permanent smile plastered on it, though he had nothing entertaining him. Jeremy leaned over and gently tickled his stomach, making his smile grow as a small gurgling sound escaped his lips.

When he got home, he read an article about 6-week-old's and what they can and cannot do yet, and it was informative. Jeremy already knew they couldn't keep their heads up because their neck muscles were to weak, but he did learn that they would start trying to communicate with facial expressions and such. He also read, that he should play a lot of different types of music to develop their sensory skills, so Jeremy was currently playing Imagine Dragon's Believer while he attempted to put this together a bassinet. Jenna was dealing with how the baby would be taken care of, making sure that none of her options included Jeremy dropping out of school, at least not full time. She knew it probably wouldn't be good for his mental health to stay home day and night, so she wasn't going to let him do complete online schooling, even though Jeremy said he was willing to if that's what it took. He heard a knock, which made him turn his head towards the door where Elena was standing against his doorway with a slight smile.

"How's it going?" Elena asked as she looked down at Grayson who was fully concentrating on trying to grab at his feet.

"Not that good, these stupid instructions are driving me crazy," he said as he took another look, trying to understand the foreign language they seemed to be in. Elena patted his back sympathetically before she took them out of his hands and examined them herself.

"Well, I guess…hmm…ah ha. Here, put the end of part A into the middle of Part B."

Jeremy threw his head back in laughter, before he said, "Oh yeah, well that's great, except which part A do you mean? Part A 1, A 2, A 3, A-"

"-Okay, okay, I get it," Elena said as she sat beside him and tickled Grayson's feet, "gosh you are so cute."

"Yeah, well he's not going to have anywhere to sleep tonight if I don't get this done, so if you can't help with the cradle, could you do something else?"

Elena picked Grayson up and held him against her chest. She waved his arms as she said in a high-pitched voice, "Daddy, be nice to Aunt Elena, she is just trying to help so I don't sleep on a bed made of pillows again."

"Stop."

"What?" Elena asked, dropping the voice when she heard the seriousness in her brother's tone.

"Don't call me daddy. I don't know what I'm doing yet. I mean, this stuff," he said while holding up the instructions, "This is all temporary. When I decide whether I'm going to keep him or not, I don't want to have these memories to make my decision harder. I need to think what the best interest for him is," he said while looking at Grayson sadly, his heart aching as the small boy smiled up at him.

"But Jer, isn't that what all this is for?" she asked while waving around the room at the many bags filled to the brim with baby supplies. "So that you can see what it would be like if you did decide to keep him. I don't want you to give up on your dreams, and I don't want you to always have to be struggling to survive like a lot of teen parents, but I don't want you to give him away either if you don't want to. Here, take _your_ _son_. I am going to see if Jenna has figured anything out yet." She handed Grayson over to Jeremy before she got up and walked out of his room, leaving him staring at the infant as he chewed on his hands as if they were the most delicious thing in the world. Jeremy brushed his hands threw his hair, before putting him back down and trying to understand the instructions for the fifth time.

After two hours, and a few more tears than Jeremy would like to admit to, the bassinet was finished. The only problem was, Jeremy did not trust his handy work, so he was cautious about putting Grayson in it. So now Jeremy stood with a tired, grumpy infant in his arms, pacing back and forth as he tried to get him to fall asleep, and despite the pleas from Jenna and Elena to put him down, Jeremy wouldn't until he had tested how well the thing held weight first. Jenna rolled her eyes when Jeremy told her that, then she walked over, grabbed both of the boxes of twenty pack of diapers and stacked them in the bassinet, proving its durability. After a few moments of debating himself, Jeremy gave up and put Grayson down into his bassinet, rocking it a little until he calmed down enough that his panting turned into small amounts of wining.

Once Grayson's eyes were closed and Jeremy was certain he was fast asleep, he slipped the baby monitor into his pocket, and they all stepped outside of his room, down to the kitchen, and sat around the isle as Jenna showed Jeremy her plan.

"Okay, so I don't want either one of us to drop out of school, at least not full time, so this is the best I could come up with. Luckily, it is the beginning of the semester, so I can still switch classes around without facing any money or grade problems. I was thinking that I would take care of Grayson in the mornings while you go to school and to your first two classes of the day then when your second class is done, you will come home and take Grayson while I go to my three classes of the day. On Saturdays and Sundays, you will go to work, I already spoke to your boss about it, and Elena and I will take turns babysitting. Did you get everything?" She asked after reciting everything she had written on the paper she laid in front of Jeremy.

He nodded, then made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her while he said, "Thank you, you don't know how much I appreciate this."

After he pulled back he went back to look at the paper to make sure everything was in order, before a look of panic/terror dawned on his face.

"What?" asked Elena.

Jeremy looked up at her, and with fear in his eyes he asked, "How am I going to tell Bonnie?"

 **The reason I ask for reviews is to make sure that people are interested in how the story is going, so if I don't get many reviews, I think that the story might be going to slow or to fast or it's just not very dramatic. I want to make sure that everyone is liking the story, so tell me your thoughts and ideas, I would love to hear from you, have a great day, ScruffyPalace!**


	7. Chapter 7

Have you ever known, for certain, the outcome of a situation before it actually happened? Well, Jeremy didn't know if he was psychic or not, but he did know that he was eternally screwed, and not in the good way. No, Jeremy was about to drop a North America Sized bomb on his girlfriend, and he was as sure she was going to break up with him, as he was sure that the sun would shine the next day.

He sat staring at the flower vase that sat in the middle of the table at Shiners, the fancy restaurant he asked Bonnie to meet him at. He would have picked her up, but he didn't want to go through removing the car seat from his car after spending longer than he would like to admit putting it in the day before. He checked his watch as he noticed that she was two minutes late, which did not help to calm his nerves. He rubbed his hands together to create warmth, as he was cold because he forgot his jacket. He was in a rush to get here because Grayson had protested his bottle, and then once he was fed he ended up spitting up all over himself, making Jeremy have to strip him to his diaper, wash him clean, then put a new onesie on him and put him down for bed. When that was all done it was already twenty minutes till, so Jeremy changed quickly then ran out the door.

Jeremy felt his nerves jump into his throat as he saw Bonnie, in all her beautiful awesomeness, make her way towards him. He stood quickly and tried to smile as though nothing was on his mind, but she saw right through him, dropped her smile, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jeremy said loudly, making the other people in the restaurant stare at him, "I mean… just sit, and I'll tell you everything."

Bonnie looked unsure, but she sat down anyway. Jeremy pushed off what he had to say, by ordering water after water and making small talk. It went well for him at first, but after the waitress returned for a third time to what they would like and Jeremy told her they were still looking, even though he hadn't once glanced at his menu, Bonnie had had enough.

"Okay Jeremy, listen. You are either going to tell me what is going on with you, right now, or I am going to get up and walk out of this restaurant. So, what is it? Do you want to break up?"

Jeremy looked at his hands that were turning white as his fingers dug into them. "No, but I'm sure that when you find out, you will want to break up with me."

Bonnie placed her hands on top of his and said, "Jeremy look at me." He raised his gaze to meet her eyes, but when he did his eyes immediately shifted away.

"I-I found out something two days ago, something life changing, and I don't exactly know how to tell you."

Bonnie's expression turned fearful. "Oh Jeremy, do you have a disease or something? Because I would hope you know that I would never break up with you over something like that. We can fight this together."

"No that isn't it," Jeremy said, quickly dismissing her.

"Then what Jeremy? What happened, that is so bad, that I would break up with you for?" she asked frustrated.

"I have a son," he finally admitted.

Bonnie looked at him with disbelief. "Okay fine, if you don't want to tell me, then I guess I'll just leave," she said as she stood and was about to turn around when Jeremy grabbed her arm gently.

"I'm not lying, I just found out I have a son two days ago. He is about six weeks old, his name is Grayson, and Vicki just left him on my doorstep," Jeremy said desperately as he tried to keep her from leaving.

Bonnie started to look like she may believe him, but she wasn't quite sure yet.

"Here," Jeremy said as he pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture he had taken the day before of Grayson wearing his new onesie that Elena had bought him that said, 'I love my Aunt,' and showed it to Bonnie. She took the phone with one hand and covered her mouth with the other.

"Jeremy," was all Bonnie had to say as she stared at the picture.

"I know. Believe me, I know," he said in response.

"You and Vicki?" she asked.

"Yeah, me and Vicki."

"You have a baby together, and she just left it on your front porch?" Jeremy nodded. "Okay, I need some time," she said, then she handed the phone back to him and walked away.

"Bonnie wait," Jeremy shouted as he ran after her, out of the restaurant and down the street.

"I just need some time Jeremy." She said as she continued to quicken her pace, but then abruptly stopped. She turned around and said, "I am only talking to you right now, because I need a ride. Caroline dropped me off."

"Okay," he said. They both walked to his car, not speaking a word the whole way. When they got in his car, Bonnie's eyes were immediately shifted towards the car seat in the back that had a Spiderman cover. She didn't say anything, but he could tell she was still holding old hope this was just one big joke, and that seem to confirm to her that it wasn't.

He parked in front of her house, and was about to say something before Bonnie said, "Stop, I'm not saying I'm breaking up with you, I just need some space to breathe and time to think. Just give me that, okay?"

He nodded and she half smiled in response before walking out the door. Once she was finally inside, Jeremy punched his hands into the steering wheel as his eyes filled with tears. It almost felt worse not knowing, then knowing she would breakup. She could think for a few days, then call him and say it's over, and he wouldn't blame her. Who would want to be with a sixteen year old who has a baby to take care of. He drove home in anger, but once he was in his room and looking down at his sleeping son, he knew that he was the most important thing in his life, and he might get to stay with Bonnie, he might not, but what he did know was that he was keeping his son.

Greyson started to whimper, so Jeremy lifted him out of his cradle and started to gently bounce him.

"Shh, shh, don't worry. Daddy's here. I've got you."

 **I just want to give a big thanks to all of my awesome reviewers and followers. It really makes me feel good when someone takes the time to leave a review. Have a great day. – Scruffy Palace**


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